Today's Reading
"Again with the third wheel? Tricycles are cool. It's better than being a unicycle sitting at home by yourself."
That pinched. "You've got a point, but I do like to know what I'm being roped into. I have my limits. I refuse to dress up as an elf."
"At the most, we might wear those cute light-up antlers, but even that's negotiable. You can help me decide."
"This better not end up like the time you tricked me into landscaping from dusk to dawn on a ninety-degree day for Habitat for Humanity."
"You enjoyed that," Natalie reminded her.
"Not the sweating part. I'd have at least dressed more appropriately if you'd told me I was going to be up to my armpits in dirt and compost."
"You wouldn't have come if I'd told you."
It was true. She wouldn't have. She'd never been the get-your-hands-dirty kind of gal, but it had been a rewarding experience. She'd volunteered again since then. "I had fun that day despite the heat and dirt. More to the point, I'd do anything with you."
"So you'll come?"
"Yes," Sheila said with a sigh. "But I reserve the right to complain about it later." She knew deep down that spending Christmas with Natalie, even in Chestnut Ridge as the third wheel, was going to be wonderful. Natalie's beau, Randy, was a good guy, and now that things looked pretty serious, she was glad to be spending more time with them, always having Natalie's best interests at heart.
"You won't have any reason to complain. It's going to be great."
"I know it will. I miss you. Christmas wouldn't be the same without you." Sheila twisted her long ponytail in front of her shoulder. "I guess now that Randy has relocated up there, this move is a forever thing, isn't it?"
"There are days I still can't believe it, but here I am living in Chestnut Ridge and happier than I could have ever imagined. I love living here."
"You love Randy," Sheila said, and the joy in Natalie's lively response made Sheila hopeful.
"I do. So much. He's so good to me. I'd live in a tent to be with him," Natalie said. "And you know how I feel about sleeping on the ground."
"Okay, okay." Sheila picked up the rose-gold pen with her company logo on it and poised it over her calendar. "When do you need me?"
Natalie clapped and squealed. "This is great."
"Don't act so surprised," Sheila teased. "You know I can never say no to you."
"But I'm not usually asking you to go out of town," Natalie said.
"True."
"Okay, so the festival kicks off with a Holiday Warmup that Orene hosts. I know she'd be thrilled if you could make it for that."
"Absolutely. She's incredibly sweet."
"Good. So, that would mean being here by the evening of the thirteenth for the party—"
"You do realize that's a Friday the thirteenth?"
"Oh stop! That's a silly superstition, but if you want to come on the twelfth to be safe, that's fine by me, and stay through the New Year, but if that's too long, then at least stay through Christmas day."
"Let's take one holiday at a time. That's two whole weeks." She couldn't even bring her hand to the calendar.
"Oh come on. You make your own schedule. Now that you have four real estate agents working under you, you can take time off. You need a break once in a while. Money isn't everything."
"It sure makes life easier, though."
"You know better than that. You and Dan were rolling in the big bucks when you two split up."
"I know. You're right. I'm just playing. Okay, I'm blocking the dates, but on one condition."
...
